Steam-turbine blower



W. McCLAVE.

STEAM TURBINE BLOWER.

APPLIcATloN FILED AuG.24.1918.

Patented J an. 20, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

Mam 221.@ a y@ diminuiti/ W. MCCLAVE.

ST-EANI TURBINE BLOWER.l

APPLICATION r|LEDAuG.24. 191s; v

1,328,286, Patented Jan. 20, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- mn a' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM MCCLAVE, 0F SGRANTOI', PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO MoCLAVE-BROOKS COMPANY, OF SCRANTON, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION 0F PENNSYLVANIA.

STEAM- TURBIN E BLOWER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 2o, 1920.

To all lwhom t may concern Be it known that I, WILLIAM MGCLAVE, a citizen of the United States, residing `at Scranton, in the county of Lackawanna and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Steam- Turbine Blowers; and I do hereby declare vthe following to be a full, clear, and exact yfound to exist in the turbine blower disclosed in my prior Patent No. 1,165,7 96, dated D ec. 28, 1915, particularly in providing a sealing and leakage arresting means for the common shaft of the turbine blower and rotor that will be self-adjusting tomeet the exact alinement of the shaft by moving up and down or sidewise, as may be necessary.

A second object is the provision in such a seal of means to form a practically tight joint at each end of the seal and yet have an open space centrally thereof to permit any exhaust steam or water of condensation which may pass from the rotor exhaust chamber, to be thrown ofrn by the rapidly revolving shaft into the suctional exhaust chamber and carried off by the means showny in the drawings, thereby preventing any of said steam or water from passing into the ball bearing chamber of the blower or of the opposite end of the shaft.

A further object is the provision of such sealing and leakage arresting means so located as to permit the cooling of the shaft centrally of the seal by a current of air which in itself assists in the carrying away of the steam and condensate and the diversion of same from the journal bearings. This constantly moving current of cold air which passes through the suctional exhaust chamber serves the purpose of not only helping to keep the carbon cylinders cool and carrying away the steam and condensate, butalso cools the shaft itself, together with the immovable shoulder against which the Aouter ends of the carbon cylinders rest.

Referring now to the accompanying draw- 1ngs,-

Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of my device taken in a vertical plane longitudinally of the axis of the rotor and impeller shaft.

F ig. 2 is an enlarged view of one of the bearings for the shaft.

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2.

The casing l is generally cylindrical in form and is adapted to be built into the wall 0f a steam boiler furnace, usually in the ashpit thereof. This casing supports the twopiece rotor housing by means'of distance pieces 2 and also by means of the connection (not shown) with the exhaust pipe 3 rigidly secured to the lower part of the rotor housing.

In the fluid chamber 4, between theouter and inner parts of the rotor casings 5 and 6 is located the rotor 7 mounted on shaft 8 and being driven in the usual way by steam led from inlet pipe 9 to a plurality of nozzles, as shown in my prior patent and also in my copending application Serial No. 193,167, vfiled September 25, 1917.

As shown in my application above referred to, I provide meansfor cooling the shaft on either side of the fluid chamber 4, utilizing for this purpose the principle of the ejector having an air duct 10 between the fluid chamber 4 and the inner bearing 11,

' and also having a similar air duct 12' between the rotor and the outer or thrust bearing 13, the former having an aspirating nozzle 14 and the latter a similar nozzle 15. The inlet to the `duct 10 is shown at 16, 'and the inlet to duct 12, at 17. The external face of the inner half of the rotor housing or that face toward the impeller 18 is curved in accordance with the principles set forth in my prior patent before mentioned and is formed with an internal chamber 19 communicating with the air'duct 10 through the inlet 20 and outlet 21, providing for the coolinof of the tube 22 which forms a continuatlon of the oil chamber 23 for the inner bearing.

Referring now to Fig. 2, the leakage arresting means is shown consisting of a pair lof carbon blocks 24 each of which is inclosed in an aluminum case 25 having an annular lug 26 to form a bearing surface for the Vao spring 27 which maintains the blocks and casing separated and also in contact with the walls of the cooling chamber in the air duct 12 or 10, Fig. 2 showing the left hand or outer' duct 12. These carbon seals do not revolve with the shaft 8, but simply move up and down, or sidewise, to meet the exact alinement of the shaft and are so moved by the shaft itself when the latter begin to revolve, after which the shaft revolves within the carbon seal or cylinder without any appreciable wear on either, the carbon cylinder being self-lubricating, that is, it needs no oil or other lubricant, and while itis a fairly close lit on the shaft, it is not, as shown in the drawings, a tight fit. The spring 27 thrusts the two cylinders apart until their outer ends 28 press suliiciently hard against t-he immovable shouldersl 29, against which they are designed to rest, thereby forming practically tight joints at these points, preventing the passage of steam from the cooling chamber 30 `to the bearing 13.

Steam passing through the nearer block 24, between that and the shaft 8, escapes through'the space 31 between the two cases 25 andis carried away through the air duct 12 by the current of air which is induced in the aspirating nozzle or ejector 15' which is located within the stream of air being carried into the ashpit by the impeller'lS.

In this way it will be noticed that the currentsof air passing through the ducts 10 and 12, not only cool the shaft and the seals, but also carry away the escaped steam or condensate from the fluid chamber 4;, rendering positive the diversion of such steam from the bearings. s

I find it convenient 4to employ a pair of the carbon seals 24 in each of the cooling chambers 80, but -if desired I may use only the -outermost of these carbon seals and eX- tend the spring` `27`1against the wall of the .rotor chamber, so that the single carbon block would form a steam-tight connection against the opposite wall, z'. e., the wall nearest the bearing from which it is desired to divert the steam.v j ,4 What is 4claimed isz: f

1. A--fluid chamber, a shaft-'passing therethrough and having a journal spaced therefrom, a duct surrounding said shaft and located between the chalnber and the journal, means for causing a circulation of air through said duct, and means for diverting the flow of escaped fluid to said duct and from said journal.

2. A fluid chamber, a shaft passing therethrough and having journals spaced therefrom, ducts, surrounding said shaft and located on either side of said chamber between same and the adjacent journal, mearff4 for causing a circulation offairthrough said.4

through and having a journal spaced therefrom, a duct surrounding said shaft and locatedbetween the chamber and the journal, means for causing a circulation of air through said duct, a. pair of leakage arresters for diverting the flow of escaped fluid to said duct and from said journal, and means for maintaining the arresters in sealing contact with opposite walls of said duct.

5. A steam chamber, a higlrspeed shaft passing therethrough and having a journal bearing on one side of said chamber and spaced therefrom, a cooling duct between the chamber and said bearing, means for causing a circulation of air through said duct, a pair of leakage arresters in said duct, each encircling the shaft but exposing the shaft `to the cooling air between. them,I and means for maintaining the a-rresters in sealing relaj tion with opposite walls of the duct and spaced apart, thereby providing space to permit the shaft to divert the escaped steam from the bearing by centrifugal action.

WILLIAM` Moonavn. 

